Poland publishes consolidated prison regulations after December 2025 amendment

The Minister of Justice has announced the consolidated text of the regulation on the organizational and order rules for the execution of imprisonment, published in Dziennik Ustaw on 11 September 2026 under item (Poz.) 1202. The announcement, dated 7 July 2026 and signed by Minister W. Żurek, consolidates the regulation of 23 December 2022 (Dz. U. poz. 2847) together with the amendments introduced by the regulation of 13 December 2025 (Dz. U. poz. 1802), which entered into force on 1 January 2026.

The consolidated act is issued under Article 16(3) of the Act of 20 July 2000 on the promulgation of normative acts and certain other legal acts. It applies to all prisoners and to prison administration, setting out the internal order of penal institutions, the organization of admissions, correspondence and visits, health and living conditions, and the preparation of convicts for release.

Internal order and daily routine

The regulation fixes the minimum standards of daily life inside penal institutions. Night silence must be observed at least between 22:00 and 06:00, and morning and evening roll calls are held in cells and workplaces, with prisoners required to be dressed rather than in underwear or pyjamas.

• A single prisoner’s bath lasts at least 10 minutes, with shower water flow of no less than 6 minutes.
• A prisoner may keep up to 9 litres of drinks, food weighing no more than 6 kg, up to 10 religious items, up to 5 books and press weighing up to 0.5 kg.
• The director and department heads receive prisoners at least once a week; requests to see a doctor are accepted daily, and food-parcel orders on every working day.
• The director sets the internal order, which may not be less favourable to prisoners than the minimums in the regulation.

Correspondence, visits and health care

Correspondence is accepted on every working day, and official correspondence daily, with outgoing mail sent no later than the second working day after handover. In closed-type institutions correspondence may be subject to censorship, and prisoners without means may receive stamps, paper and envelopes from the administration.

Health and living conditions receive detailed attention. The director may grant derogations for prisoners in hospitals, the chronically ill, those with non-psychotic mental disorders, substance-dependent and physically disabled prisoners, on the advice of a doctor or psychologist. Pregnant and nursing women are transferred no later than the 28th week of pregnancy to an institution providing round-the-clock midwifery care and access to gynaecology and obstetrics.

Classification and preparation for release

Prisoners are classified for placement and for the system of serving their sentence, with institutions designated by letters and types by numbers:

• Institution types: M (young offenders), P (first-time), R (penitentiary recidivists), W (military detention), plus U for those serving only misdemeanour or disciplinary penalties.
• Institution types: 1 (closed), 2 (semi-open), 3 (open).
• Systems of serving sentence: p (programmed influence), t (therapeutic), z (ordinary).

Progress in resocialization is assessed at least every six months, and the penitentiary commission, composed of at least three members, issues decisions and opinions in the prisoner’s presence. Ahead of release, information is updated at least six months before the expected conditional release or end of sentence, and released persons are given details of institutions offering material, medical, employment, housing and legal assistance.

Impact

The consolidated text gives prisoners, families and prison staff a single, authoritative reference for the rules governing daily life in Polish penal institutions, incorporating the December 2025 changes that took effect on 1 January 2026. By merging the original 2022 regulation with its amendments, the announcement removes the need to consult multiple legal acts and clarifies the rights and obligations of all those serving imprisonment.

Source: Dziennik Ustaw, No. 2026, item 1202, 11 September 2026, regulations (official reference: announcement of the Minister of Justice of 7 July 2026, Dz. U. poz. 1202).